Research Associate - Indigenous Data Sovereignty

The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy invites applications from qualified Canadian citizens who identify as First Nations, Inuit, or Métis for a full-time position of  Research Associate  position commencing October 1, 2026, or on a date mutually agreed upon. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

The Research Associate will conduct independent research under the purview of the Health Data Research Network’s (HDRN) Indigenous Data Team led by Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods.

The incumbent collaborates with the HDRN Indigenous Data Team Lead to:

Develop and implement a strategic plan for the Indigenous Data Team.

Lead the engagement of First Nations, Inuit and Métis scholars, organizational leaders, and community members interested in Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Support the development of an Indigenous data sovereignty network.

Conduct and write literature reviews that synthesize academic peer-reviewed and grey literature on theory and practice around the application of the principles of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Develop and write proposals and applications for national and international peer-reviewed competitions for research funding relevant to Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Write peer-reviewed academic manuscripts for publication (e.g., protocol papers, theoretical papers, and outcome(s)) focused on Indigenous data governance and sovereignty co-authored with Indigenous partners from community, academia and/or government.

Disseminate research findings and best practices in Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Facilitate national and international in-person, hybrid or virtual meetings and events.

Prepare materials for presentations for internal meetings, conferences, workshops, and briefings to key stakeholders on the science and practice of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Develop approaches to bring Indigenous data governance and sovereignty approaches to administrative data research for the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) and the HDRN Canada.

Develop analytic processes to support the application of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Provide direction to staff at MCHP and HDRN on how to incorporate principles and practices of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty into data management and use.

Complete other duties as assigned.

Health Data Research Network (HDRN) Canada  is a pan-Canadian non-profit network that facilitates multi-jurisdictional health data research and collaboration across provinces and territories. It is a national platform connecting provincial, territorial, and national organizations that hold population health and administrative data. Established in 2020, HDRN Canada aims to improve public health and the healthcare system by enabling researchers to access and analyze multi-regional health data while promoting inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and Indigenous data sovereignty.

Further information about HDRN Canada can be obtained from Home | HDRN Canada.

The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) is a research center of excellence within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the Bannatyne Campus of the University of Manitoba.

MCHP has the responsibility for the establishment, on-going development and maintenance of the world-class Manitoba Population Research Data Repository (Repository) and its supporting systems. Staff at MCHP conduct policy relevant research using the Repository. The Repository is unprecedented internationally in terms of its comprehensiveness, degree of integration, and orientation around a population registry. It includes information derived from the health care system as well as housing, education and social assistance information.

The data files are de-identified but linkable at the individual level and support history building across all files over a 50-year period. MCHP enables researchers to undertake population-based health services and broader determinants of health research and policy analysis using the Repository within legislative privacy regulations and ethical frameworks. MCHP relays its’ research results through knowledge translation…